How to host a great dog birthday party

So today we celebrated Manny's second birthday by throwing him a party! Here's what we did to give him the perfect birthday... I hope our creativity can help others plan a fun and easy memorable party for their fur babies too :)

We live in an apartment, so we don't have a yard, and certainly don't have the space to have all of Manny's friends, so we held the party at our local dog park where Manny and many of his friends often play together. It was a good location to have a large number of big dogs get together and have plenty of space to run.

However, besides just getting all the dogs and dog parents together for a hang-out, we wanted to do something special to set this day apart from all others and make it memorable. I made a big batch of home-made pupcakes for Manny and all of his friends to enjoy at the party, and also prepared doggy goody bags for his friends to bring home with them.

I made these healthy pup-cakes for all the dogs, and brought along some extras to share with other dogs at the park and in case any mishaps happened (like someone else eating a cupcake that doesn't belong to them..) I carried them there in a cake pan with a lid and handle, with a fun doggy bone cheese cloth folded on the bottom.

I also prepared fun goody bags, by using brown paper bags (which are the most eco-friendly) but personalized them a bit by decorating them myself with hand-drawn Mannys. We expected 12 doggy guests but I made 15 just in case.

I filled each doggy bag with a few different dog treats from Trader Joe's. Our dogs love them, and they are a healthier option compared to other treats, but also more inexpensive than most quality dog treats.

I finished off the bags by decorating each with a "ribbon" of 4 poop bags from a roll, twisting the poop bag ribbon to make it thinner and easier to manage, and wrapping it around the top of the bag, then tying into a bow. I folded over the top of the bag and stapled the sides to keep the bow from sliding off. We handed these out to each of our doggy guests as they were leaving.

All the dogs had a blast! All dog parents were very responsible and cautious with supervising their dog at all times (as should happen at any dog park experience). All the dogs played well together and a lot of Manny's friends that never met each other made some new best friends!

A very low-cost party to "host" and fun time for everyone that included lots of treats, plenty of socialization, and a creative touch to make it memorable. Hope everyone had a blast! Manny was even lucky enough to collect some birthday presents from some of his friends' human moms and dads. What a lucky boy!